Mechanical toys commonly have wheels, gearboxes for controlling a grip or for lifting/rotating an arm of the toy, etc., which are motor-driven. In most such toys, an actuator, such as a DC motor or the like, is connected to the driven component (e.g., a wheel of the vehicle, a robotic arm etc.) by an intermediate clutch assembly. The clutch assembly, in these arrangements, is primarily used to provide force to the driven component by engaging the clutch device in order to transmit the rotational force of the motor to the driven component. However, in some instances, it may also be desired that the clutch assembly additionally protects against damaging internal components of the toy when subjected to excessive force, such as preventing the motor being burnt out when the motor is prevented from turning, or damaging lifting/rotating mechanisms because of excessive force.
Conventional clutches for toys include and use springs or coils, and the rotation force required for the driven component is caused by a compression of the spring and/or coil. More specifically, the compressed spring causes the two members of the clutch to engage, and thus deliver the motor's rotation force to the driven element. When the rotation is prevented, however, the spring or coil relaxes and the two members of the clutch become disengaged—thereby reducing the amount of damage to internal components of the toy
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,526 issued to Ensmann et al. on May 29, 1973, describes a conventional clutch assembly for a winding spring-driven toy. A clutch assembly is described in which a driven clutch member of a toy spring drive is positively engaged, with teeth for vertically retaining, by a driving clutch member of a wind-up mechanism. The arrangement is alleged to provide a quickly engageable and releasable spring wind-up connection for toy vehicle games and toy vehicle launchers.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,328, issued to Yamasaki on Jan. 23, 1979, describes a conventional clutch for a toy vehicle or the like having an inertia motor energized by a spring-return drawstring mechanism. A drive spool receiving the drawstring has a drive disc portion with an integral square shank loosely encircled by a clutch disc with a circumferentially disposed slot engaged by an arcuate projection on the surface of the drive disc, the projection being shorter in length to allow relative motion between the discs.
Conventional clutches for toys, which rely upon springs and/or coils, may suffer from issues related to wear-and-tear, reduction of elastic recovery, lessening of reliable operation etc., over time. Therefore, new and improved clutch mechanisms for toys that have reduced reliance, or no reliance, on the conventional spring and/or coils are desirable.